Collision of Worlds(Old Version)
by FoxySkies
Summary: Nefarious took the Clock's switch and threw it to the left as the robot laughed maniacally, "So long heroes, hello perfect universe!" He wanted a perfect universe and that's what he got but with what cost? Now many heroes must unite, some old and some new to face a old yet present threat. Including a duo who will be reunited.(BEING REWRITTEN)
1. Prologue: Perfect Universe

A feline-like creature stood, staring at another feline creature similar to him whom was walking away from him. The creature was much taller and muscular in build compared to the other whom was much smaller and had a height of five feet compared to the six feet that the former had in height. The tall creature known as a Lombax had light gray fur with red-brown stripes and black eyebrows, his eyes were yellow with dark brown irises. He wore Praetorian Guard armor with plates on the shoulders and chest, the chest plate in particular had a symbol.

"Where...are you going?" The large Lombax asked, looking off at the smaller Lombaxian who was walking off with a little robot.

"You can't just walk away! THE LOMBAXES NEED US!" The elder yelled toward the younger.

The younger yellow Lombax with green eyes, yellow fur, and brown stripes whom wore a peculiar set of armor attempted to ignore the elder as he walked off, his head hanging slightly in shame.

"DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!" He yelled, stomping his strange wrench-like staff down.

The younger then stopped, turning and looking at the elder who collapsed onto his knees, looking down with sad eyes.

"Don't walk away...please...don't leave…." The elder said with a saddened voice.

He soon looked up however upon hearing the approaching footsteps, he thought he would see anger or upsetness but instead, upon the Lombax's face was ...understanding?

The younger bent down and gave the elder a hug much to his surprise, "I'm not going to leave you, I know how it is to be alone ...an outcast….you will never be alone again, uncle Alister."

Alister sniffled, tears of joy flowed down his furry cheeks as he hugged back. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words ...thank you Ratchet, your father would be so proud of the man that you have become."

"Your welcome. Now, let's say we walk Clank to the Clock, together. I do need a teacher after all." Ratchet said, standing up with a soft smile.

Alister stood up too, wiping away his tears, he was never one to cry after all and certainly didn't want that to change but today was an exception.

"It would be an honor and pleasure." He said with a smile of gratitude.

With that, Ratchet turned to walk back to Clank. Alister smiled, ready to follow when he saw something flying toward the young Lombax. The elder's eyes widened as he raced to save the young Lombax.

"RATCHET!" He yelled as the Lombax suddenly noticed the beam with wide eyes.

Luckily though, Alister was able to save him and pushed out of the way but he paid the price for it…. Letting out a gasp, Alister held onto his chest where his heart was before slumping and falling off the clock, much to Ratchet's utter horror.

"ALISTER!" He yelled with turmoil as a familiar laughter rang in his ears.

Lowering down was the last person he thought he would see ...or in this case robot. The robot lowered down as he hovered, cackling maniacally. The robot was tall with a green, transparent, egg-shaped head-dome featuring gears and cogs inside, brightly colored red eyes. The robot had several red highlights, a pair of mechanical wings attached to his pauldrons, hydrolic pipes on his chest and back, and diamond-shaped guards on his legs and arms.

"Nefarious." Ratchet growled as Clank hopped onto his back with a serious expression.

"Miss me, squishy?!" He cackled.

Ratchet quickly pulled out his wrench, ready to swing but he never got the chance…..Nefarious was too quick as he shot a laser which penetrated Ratchet's armor, severely wounding him…..

Nefarious' laughter echoed throughout the Clock as Ratchet fell forward, clutching his chest with a shocked look as he collapsed. Clank looked over his shoulder with a horrified look, eyes wide as the evil robot cackled maniacally.

"Why so surprised, Clank?" Nefarious said, "I told Ratchet this would be my greatest triumph."

"Nefarious… Have you realized what you have done?!" Clank exclaimed, horrified and angry at the robot.

"Why yes I do, Clank," Nefarious said with a sinister voice as he walked towards fallen hero, all the while, towering over Clank with glee.

He lowered himself to the Zoni robot's level before he closed his fingers around Clank's throat and lifted him into the air. Nefarious then stood back up and walked to the edge of the Chamber's platform.

"Nefarious!" The voice of Ratchet sounded, hoarse and fatigued.

Nefarious didn't spare Ratchet a glance, he reached his robotic hand over the platform's edge. "I once would have said that this was fun. But alas Clank, whatever game we had must end here."

Opening his fingers, Clank fell through Nefarious' grip and off into the abyss below. No sound indicated Clank hit something on the way down. Nefarious then turned with a gleeful glint toward the lever as he began to stalk to the master switch. He stood before it, and with an intense excitement matched by a sinister grin, Nefarious reached for the lever.

"Ne-farious…please, don't do this…..the clock can't handle it…..it's not...a time machine….it's only meant to...to keep….it…" Ratchet said with a hoarse voice as the life slowly drained from his eyes.

Ratchet struggled to lift himself. Failing, he gave what little of his strength remains and instead lifts his head - his eyes are dim. But Nefarious isn't looking at Ratchet. The lombax watches in agony as the robot is transfixed by Clock's central switch. In vain, desperate to reach through to stop Nefarious' madness, Ratchet uttered his last.

Nefarious took the Clock's switch and threw it to the left as the robot laughed maniacally, "So long heroes, hello perfect universe!"

The last thing he heard was the wicked, empty sound of maniacal laughter. His eyes rolled back as the end took him, and as the end took the universe, he only had one thought: _I failed._


	2. Chapter 1: Whole New Universe

It's a sunny day on Fastoon. The inhabitants happily go about their daily lives. Mechanics shop for spare parts, sharing trade secrets. Inventors trade ideas, and scientists gather in droves to discuss how to better the Great Nefarious Empire. Kits laugh and giggle in parks & streets as mothers relax on benches, some chatting and some reading a paper full of new and invigorating invention ideas. It was certainly a happy day for all, minus one of course…

Along the sidewalk of the joyous paradise, walked a Lombax with shiny yellow fur and brown stripes. His luminous green eyes showed not happiness or joy but instead anger and annoyance as he stomped down the street with his brown boots. The Lombax wore blue pants with a brown belt and a short sleeved orange shirt, a big contrast to his current bad attitude as he kept his hands in his pockets.

"Good morning Alexander! How're you this fine day?" Asked a Lombax seller who had jogged up to the grumpy Lombax in glee.

Alex shrugged the merchant off, grumbling in response to his cheery disposition. Much to his annoyance, however, the merchant returned.

"Come on, Alexander, surely the son of The Great Inventor of Fastoon would love a-" The cheery merchant was stopped in his speech as two yellow and brown striped hands yanked him by the collar.

Alex looked at the merchant in the eyes as he said with a growl, "I don't want whatever the hell you're selling, now buzz off!"

Alex then throw the merchant backwards, causing the skinny Lombaxian seller to stumble as he fell back.

The merchant chuckled nervously as he said whilst about to get back up, "Are you sure you wouldn't want a-YIPE!"

The seller quickly bolted backwards with a yelp as a blaster shot hit the ground.

"I said, buzz off!" Alexander yelled with a growl which caused the seller to shriek before quickly running off.

Alexander growls at the seller as he runs off.

'It's way too early for this crap', he thinks.

There's deadlines creeping up at work, and the shrill tone of the merchant is the last thing his migraine needs. Angela's already gonna rip him a new one for being late, and entertaining this random seller is not something he has time or patience for. And the title he used grates at his nerves more than anything else: son of the Great Inventor. Why should his pops even matter in the first place? It's not like Grummelnet pays him differently because of it. In fact, he's practically an unpaid intern.

As Alex stomps off to work, he scoffs at the people around him. They're so damn cheery all the time, for seemingly no reason at all. Everything's always fine, almost eerily so, and it almost makes him want to hurl at the thickness of the air. Coffee would probably help, if he had the time to order any.

"Can't you be happy at least once, Alex? This is the great empire of Nefarious after all!" Angela said cheerily to the grumpy Lombax once he had arrived at the front entrance of the GrummelNet HQ.

Alex gives an annoyed hum, as well as a raised eyebrow to the comment. "At least I have other emotions. This entire planet acts like they have a smile glued into their faces all the time. It's creepy, and annoying. It's like there's a constant giggling ringing in your ears."

Angela gives a hearty laugh of her own, and she wears the same grin as everyone else on the planet. She leans down, ruffling Alex's fur as her voice bounces with the giggling.

It feels comparable to a parent teasing a child for doing something they deemed adorable, and it's demeaning. "Oh, you hush with that, Alex. You keep up that frowning, and it'll stick to you. It doesn't look good for a citizen of the Nefarious Empire!"

"Better then acting like some damn robot…" Alex grumbled as he went inside.

Angela just giggled at that as she followed after him, skipping away with a giggly voice. Unknown to either Lombaxes, however, a security camera zoomed in on them.

The video feed centers on the two lombaxes, focusing on the shorter, grumpier one. There's a robotic butler watching the footage with tired blue eyes. The colors from the screen reflect off of his rounded body, painted into a well-fitted suit. He leans over to the 'Great Nefarious' with an interested hum. "This could be a problem, sir. Shall we deal with his divergence now?"

"Not yet, let us wait, Lawrence. After all, he is no problem with Clank gone." The robot chuckled sinisterly.

"But of course sir and shall I prepare your underwear now?" Lawrence asked in his usual monotone voice.

"Lawrence, what have I told you about talking of my clothing..?" Nefarious asked with a slight eye twitch.

"Of course, sir. My most sincere apologies." Despite his words, his tone seemed to suggest that he is, in fact, not as sorry as he claims.

With that Lawrence stood next to the doctor as Nefarious clacked his talon-like fingers together, watching the two Lombaxes closely.

Alex and Angela then got into the nearby elevator as Alex pressed the button for the 3rd floor, the elevator then dinged as the doors closed.

"EEEE! I'm so excited Alex, today's the day I finish my Protopet Cannon!" She said excitedly and happily.

"Who would even want to fire their pets out of a cannon in the first place again?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow, leading to Angela letting out a giggle as if he was stupid.

"Everyone, silly! Stop questioning so many things, this is the glorious Nefarious Empire!" She said laughing away.

"Right…." Alex said, the eerily happy tones sometimes creeped him out a little too much.

He was about to say something else when his holowatch rang, without saying a word, he answered the call only to hear the most annoying thing in the world…..

"Eyyyy, my boy!" Said a very eerie, as well as overly bubbly, voice.

"Hi, Dad." Alex said, slightly annoyed by his Dad's overly bubbly attitude.

"Alexander, do you know what day it is?!" His dad asked excitedly.

Alex sighed in annoyance as he asked, "Let me guess, it-"

"NEFARIOUS APPRECIATION DAY!" His Dad cheered happily, interupting the younger Lombax before he could finish.

"That's….great Dad, is that all you wanted?" Alex asked as the elevator reached the 3rd floor, allowing him and Angela to get off.

"Well, we also have a surprise for you too. We'll tell you when you get home. Goodbye Alexander! Love you!" His father said before hanging up as Alex hung up too with an annoyed sigh before walking into the lab.

Nefarious watched the two Lombaxes closely as they worked before an alarm began to beep on the side of the screen, an alarm that Nefarious knew all too well yet knew was impossible.

"No...that's impossible….LAWRENCE!" Yelled the robot despite the butler being right next to him.

The sheer force of the scream pushes Lawrence back, as if creating an artificial wind. He blinks to recalibrate his systems, and softly replies. "I do believe that it is possible, despite our planning to prevent this. The two of them have always been known to defy the odds."

"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE, LAWERENCE! I KILLED HIM!" The robot yelled in rage getting out of his chair and then throwing it at the blinking light.

Unimpressed with this one of many tantrums, Lawrence would roll his eyes if he had the eyes of an organic. "Did you ever bother to confirm that, sir? Did we see the body?"

"HE IS DEAD LAWRENCE! I MADE SURE OF IT! Unless….no….no! NONONONO! THAT STUBBORN OLD FOOL! OOOOOORRRRRRRRRRVVVVVVVVVVVUUUUUUUSSSSSSSS- Oh Janice, my heart is like a fiery cauldron of love and hate that yearns to feel you!" The robot stopped his yelling as it transformed into a radio sitcom of some sort.

"Oh, Lance, your bulging bicepts make me purr in delight!" Janice said in delight as Lance said,"Feel them, Janice! Feel them move about and yearn for you!"

Lawrence gives a tired sigh with the glitch. "Honestly, sir, you must allow me to repair that. On the other hand, that would mean I no longer have the power to do this." A metal arm lifts into the air, and a quick flick of the wrist sees Lawrence literally smacking the sense back into his employer.

"-SSSSS! LAWRENCE!" Nefarious yelled once more, forgetting the location of his butler.

"I never left this spot, sir. Have you considered that overloading your voice box isn't exactly healthy?"

"Nevermind that Lawrence! We need that annoying little defect destroyed before he causes any problems!" Nefarious yelled once more, eye twitching.

"Very well, sir. I shall attend to that immediately after ironing the flags in your throne room."

"Excellent, and offer our hunter extra pay if he brings me the defect alive," Nefarious said with an ominous chuckle as he continued to stare at the blimp and then the crackling screen saver of Alex tinkering with a Constructo Pistol.

Alex continues with his tinkering as he secretly took small parts out and put them into his pockets. He almost has enough to make his own ship and escape as well as the bolts needed to pay for a pilot's license. Out of excitement, he's nearly tempted to take everything he needs at once, but he's not a fool. The last thing he needs is the Praetorian Guard confiscating everything he's built so far. Building a ship is after all banned if you are not of the guard or show questionable allegiance to the Nefarious Empire.

"How's that Constructo Pistol going, Alex?" Angela asked from right behind him which caused him to jump in fright.

Alex shrugs, playing along with Angela's act - with all of the Empire's act - for just a moment. He's at a delicate stage in his plans, and he can almost taste the freedom that will come from being as far away from this planet as possible. "Eh, it's coming along. I'm almost done with it. Just have to reinstall everything now."

"Sweetness, can't wait to see it and don't you forget that once a Lombax, always a loyal servant to Dr. Nefarious!" She said cheerfully before going to work on her newest weapon, the Proto Cannon.

"You know it!" Alex grins from cheek to cheek, his eyes squinting with the force.

He internally gags at his cheery disposition, disgusted by how fake it is. It seems to be enough to get Angela off his tail, so that's all he can ask for at the moment. He can't risk her finding out, knowing that she would certainly be quick to share his legally questionable exploits with the authorities.

'She's a puppet', he thinks, 'and she doesn't even feel the strings. None of them do, but not me. I refuse to be a pawn in his game.'

It is then that the holophone rings, it rings for a while before Angela answers it, revealing the hologram of Hero Hunter: Ace Hardlight.

"Greetings Mr. Hardlight! Are you here for the new Proto Cannon?" Angela asks Ace happily and cheerfully with a big smile which makes Alex gag internally.

"No, I'm not here for the damn Proto Cannon. I'm here for the RYNO. Do you have it or not?" Ace asked, clearly annoyed.

"We do, so sorry to keep you waiting for it, Mr. Hardlight!" Angela apologised with a smile.

"Whatever, just send your delivery boy down here with it." Ace said before he ended the call.

Angela sighs giddily, like she's just finished a job well done. She bounces over to Alex, with that same goofy attitude that she hasn't dropped for as long as he remembers. "I think that went rather well, don't you? Since you're done with your current project, why don't you bring Mr. Hardlight the RYNO?"

"You got it...boss!" He said with yet another forced smile as he hopped out of his chair and grabbed the nearby RYNO, heading down to the elevator to meet with Ace.

Meanwhile with Ace, he had just gotten a call from a particular butler.

"You want me to do what?" Ace asked, lifting up his visor once more to make sure it really was Lawerence.

"Our systems picked up Clank's signal, and Nefarious has requested that you neutralize him, and bring him to us. Deadly force is not preferred, however. There will be greater pay if Clank arrives functional."

"I thought your boss said that little defect was dead! Past, present, future! Dead! How can he even be alive in the first place?" Ace asked, growling slightly in annoyance just as Alex had arrived from the elevator.

Lawrence's voice in the earpiece is firm and certain, giving the impression that the butler knows far more than he's willing to share. "There are powers in the universe that are beyond mortal comprehension, powers that aim to work in Clank's favor. That is all you need to know."

"Ok, look, tell you what. You pay me double and I'll make sure no one knows the little squirt even existed. Deal?" Ace asked, setting his blasters to stun mode as he did so.

"Nefarious will be pleased with your cooperation. Bear in mind that the double in your pay will only be valid if Clank is unharmed."

"Fine. I'll make sure he's unharmed. Is his highness pleased?" Ace asked, placing his now passive blasters into their respective holsters.

"Yes. However, it would be wise to correct your tone when referring to the Doctor. Do you want to be sent back to your original timeline?"

"Fine, you win, butler. I'll deliver the squirt to you both by next week, cho." Ace said before hanging up.

"Got your RYNO!" Alex said with a forced smile, holding out the weapon.

"Took ya long enough, you know you weren't this slow according to the do-" Ace quickly stopped himself before he could continue much to Alex's confusion.

"Anyway, thanks." He said, snatching the weapon from Alex's hands much to the Lombax's inner annoyance.

"Say, what's with those stretch marks? You trying to force a smile or something?" Ace asked, putting his new weapon into a holocase which was able to shrink and contain multiple weapons at once.

"No, sir. I'm just happy to be of service!" Alex turns away from Ace, waving back to him with a standard response. "Have a good one, and praise Nefarious!" Alex's keycard opens the front door, and he disappears into the Grummelnet building.

Ace hummed to himself with suspicion as he watched the disappearing Lombax before blowing off that suspicion with a laugh. "Right, like some scrawny little space rat's gonna be a problem. What's he gonna do: nibble my ears and tickle me to death?"

With that Ace left the building, entering the cool night air. All the while, far off in the Praxus Sector, off in an abandoned city which once bustled and hustled with thousands of residents, where buildings now crumble, a life was there. Not an organic life form nor one of creature origin...but rather a robotic one. Within a small building, tucked away in the corner of the once grand capital, a small tin rectangle with a head laid on the floor but unlike any other disabled robot within the city, this one's eyes...opened to reveal one color...a bright luminous green.


	3. Chapter 3: Reborn

Slowly, the little grey robot's systems rebooted as he took in his surroundings. He was within a very much crumbling and abandoned robot factory, he was on his back as his eyes brightened, signaling that his reboot was fully complete. He extended his arms and legs, sitting up as he took in his surroundings with an 'Hm…'.

According to an internal systems check, his eyes weren't deceiving him, but his surroundings simply _can't_ be accurate. Meridian City is the bustling capital of Polaris, not a ghost town. It's wrong, completely wrong. His quantum actuator reminds him of the grim truth: Nefarious tampered with the Clock, rewriting history.

"Oh dear, Nefarious has succeeded in his plans. If Meridian City is destroyed, I fear what may have become of the rest of the universe. I do hope the others are alive in some way." Clank said worryingly as he hopped down from the dusty old work bench.

He worked his way throughout the small factory, finding several robotic limbs and parts littered across the area. Upon reaching outside, however, he found a most startling sight that almost made his circuitry freeze up. All around the area were skeletons. Some in uniforms, some in suits, and worst of all...almost all civilians. If Clank had a heart, it would sink. He walked along, going up the capitol steps as he passed by many fallen soldiers whom were both organic and robotic. Either way, all of them, skeletons or not were stuck in multiple positions.

The suited men attempting to flee into the Presidential Capital, the soldiers stuck in a position with guns risen almost as if they had been defending to the last man or robot, and the most horrific sight of all...all of the civilians were stuck in a state of fear, children, parents, eldery, all of them…..

Clank's fists clench, his entire body shaking in anger. No, not anger. That's too mild of a word for this. Infuriates him? Still not quite right. Seeing the proof of Nefarious attacking defenseless citizens, instilling such fear in them before ending their lives, risking _time itself_ for such selfish gain, such meaningless violence, it _pisses him off beyond measure_.

He allows a single, firm declaration to pass his metallic lips. "Nefarious will pay for this."

With that, Clank walked into the once great building of the capital….

Far away, back on Fastoon, Alex breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out of the GrummelNet building and began to make his short trek home. Stars twinkled above as he looked all around the skies, seeing many stars and galaxies. Including the mysterious uncharted milky-like galaxy. Despite his outward attitude, Alex was quite a kind natured soul. But he felt no need to show it due to how everyone acted around him. Hell, if he did then he'd just be like everyone else and he didn't want to be like that. He wanted to be different, to be unique. He didn't want to be like everyone else….

Soon enough, Alex arrived at home. Alex then stopped right in front of the door with a sigh as he went to get his holokey from his pocket. With a flick of the wrist, Alex whipped out the small yet very much significant key. It was something given to him on his 14th birthday from his mother as a way to get back inside the house incase he was ever out working late through the night, which is what he has been doing for the past 2 years now. Or was it 3…? He honestly could not tell anymore. With all the joy and happiness running through the Lombaxians, many have neglected to keep track of time.

Very few even remember or know what year, month, day, and the date it is. Those that do, howsever, usually have a hard time doing it and have to write it down, one of those being Alex. He didn't know why he had such a hard time remembering the time and year, neither did he know why everyone acted so...eerily happy, the air was almost too thick to breathe from all of that robotic-like happiness. It was almost...like…..something was making...no, forcing everyone to be happy….

Yet no matter how many times, Alex attempted to discover the reason behind it, it always lead to a dead end or it lead to somewhere or in particular...someone. Emperor Nefarious, wide ruler of the Polaris Galaxy with Chairman Drek as his "co-ruler" who now uses the once flourishing Soloana Galaxy as his personal toybox as he experiments on planets such as Quartu and Veldin whilst destroying many others to create new planets to sell off to greedy investors or sellers wanting to make another few million bolts. Emperor Nefarious, loved by all and hated by none. Emperor Nefarious...the only one to have brought unified peace to the galaxy by locking up terrorists such as Sasha Phyronix and previous Head Engineer before Kaden, Percival Tachyon. The more Alex thought and attempted to find a connection, it always went back to Nefarious….

Now of course he knew why Dr. Percival Tachyon was imprisoned within the walls of Zordoom Prison. He had after all attempted to create an army of robotic pirates and robot ghost pirates, the latter failing miserably and his pirate army's commands being overridden by a hack input by the chief scientist, Michael James Pollyx. That still left one question unanswered...why Sasha Phyronix? Upon doing research on her, Alex found nothing wrong within her history. No law was broken nor did she try to start terror, all she did was question Nefarious and his regime and suggest changes that would allow for many things he himself strived for. It just didn't make sense….

Every little thing always lead back to Emperor Nefarious. The eerie happiness, the mysterious disappearances of random citizens, the bizarre imprisonments, everything! It was just something so utterly confusing...why would so many bad and odd things lead to a good man turned robot like Nefarious ...? Alex shook his head, he was thinking too much again. Citizens...especially Lombaxes were taught and told repeatedly to never think even once yet Alex couldn't help it. He always thought, thousands of thoughts and plans always racing through his head. Thoughts of how things worked, what and why he was here. Plans for gadgets and gizmos a plenty, many of which have helped him build his ship from the ground up. He rubbed the back of his furred neck, feeling a small square space where fur was still growing in the void that is there.

He grunted a little, the area of skin still stinging even after 2 years of healing. What used to be there was a chip, specifically a chip mandatory for all citizens to have. Each citizen of the empire is implanted with the chip, what the chip did? Alex didn't know but he still remembered how he lost it 2 years ago….

* * *

_All was silent within the forested area of Zolar on planet Quantos, a small Astrogeniatician coocoo bird flew into its nest. Settling down with a chirp, all was silent and all was at peace until….._

_**ZOOM!**_

_Suddenly two figures raced below the branches and along the forested floor, startling the bird and making it fly away. These two figures were not the advanced fongoids of the area but rather two Lombax kits, one 13 and the other just shy of 12. The 12 year old kit was female with no tail, she wore baggy jean overalls and a dirty v-necked white shirt, she also wore a pair of dark blue hover boots as she sped slightly past the older kit._

"_I'm gonna beat you!" She said in a sing-song voice, giggling at the boy._

_The male kit wore baggy green jeans, brown hoverboots, and a raggy tan shirt which had no sleeves at all._

"_Not if I beat you, first!" He said, giggling away._

_The little kit then sped up faster, ignoring the warning that his uncle had given him on speeding up._

"_No fair, you're cheating!" The female kit said, pouting as she tried to catch up._

"_Not cheating if I learned how to race with my unc-lllllleeeeeeeeee!" The kit yelped the last bit out as he sped off a log and down into what appeared to be a cavern._

_There was then a big thump as the female Lombax stopped before the enormous circular hole, giggling away._

"_Cheaters never win, Alex, everyone knows that! I'm going to go get Uncle Kaden and tell him where you are, stay put!" She yelled down in a sing-song voice before speeding off on her hoverboots._

_Meanwhile with little Alex, the kit held his left leg which was broken, hissing in pain._

"_Owie, that hurt…." He said in a happy yet pained voice._

_His attention soon changed though when he saw three strange lights approaching him. Squinting his eyes, he soon saw the lights begin to take form of peculiar creatures. They looked nothing like anything he had seen before._

_The three beings floated around him, studying him as Alex giggled at the display. After a few minutes, they backed up and floated above the ground slightly right in front of him._

"_You three look so cool! What are you guys?" Alex asked with a cocked head which was an adorable sight among his species._

_The creatures simply said, "Zoni."_

"_Zoni, that is such a cool name!" The little Lombax said excitedly with a giggle as the Zoni once more simply said, "Zoni."_

"_Now, what's this all about a- oh my…" An old yet young voice said as yet another of the creatures came in. _

_This one, not floating but instead walking, the frail zoni walked over till the Lombax could see him. Unlike other zoni, his eyes are a blue-ish green. He also possessed a visible mouth, and wore a pointed head piece with a yellow time-related sigil imprinted on it. His body was also larger than other Zoni present with him wearing a lighter metallic suit with metal appliances that resembled wings on his back. _

_The frail zoni chuckled as he studied the Lombax, "My, my, you are quite smaller than he described. Much scrawnier too, I expect this to change in the future however. Though it seems I may have gone too far back to escape the mad doctor...and it seems you both failed to prevent him from using the clock."_

_He frowned a bit at the last sentence as if thinking it over gave off a bad odor._

_The Lombax giggled instead of being curious, "Your so funny!"_

"_Yes, I do have a funny particle in me, don't I? Ehehehehe, such joy for a young age, your attitude truly warms my heart! Though something seems off…." The zoni said, letting out a small hum._

"_Your so silly, nothing is off in the Great Empire of Nefarious!" The Lombax said, giggling once more._

"_Indeed, oh my! Now how'd you get this and this?" He said, very concerned for the young Lombax as he saw the broken leg and a small black chip on the back of his neck after moving around him to study just a tad more._

_The Lombax giggled once more, "Your so silly, Mr. Zoni! No one is supposed to question anything in Nefarious's great empire!"_

_The zoni took a frown at that, "It would seem he doesn't want thought or emotion either...well, we should be able to fix both of your problems."_

_The frail Zoni turned to the three floating ones and nodded to them as he said one simple word, "Fix."_

_The three zoni began to repeat that phrase as they glowed around the young Lombax as he slowly fell into a deep sleep…_

_When Alex woke up, his shiny green orbs gazed up into the now starlit sky. He breathed slowly, in and out as he gazed upwards._

'_Geez...what was that about? Wait...what's going on!? What am I doing?! How am I doing this?! It's like I'm….I'm….' The Lombax thought as he sat up ...thought, what's a thought!?_

'_...Speaking in my mind but why do I not sound so bubbly…?' He thought, confused as he sat there._

"_How….how am I doing this…? What am I doing…?" He asked himself, breathing slowly to keep calm._

"_What's this feeing….I don't feel happy or hurt ...I just feel ...something.." He breathed out, as he felt himself._

_Feeling all kinds of new sensations, he however hissed in pain as his fingers lightly glided over where his chip should be ...wait...his chip! His eyes widened in shock as he realised a startling conclusion ...his chip was gone …_

* * *

He slowly took his hand away from his neck and went back to what he was doing, taking his holokey and unlocking his front door. The first face he comes into contact with is his father, beaming up at him with pride as he looks up from a news article, titled 'Nefarious Appreciation Parade This Weekend'. His mother is at the stove, preparing dinner as Kaden greets his son. With that same grin, he closes out the holo display to direct his full attention to Alex.

"Hey there, Champ! How was work for ya today, my boy?"

Alex smiles, but not with the same stiffness as the rest of Fastoon. There's a bit of pity, a smidge of self doubt in his eyes. Of course, he wants to make his parents proud, and craves their approval for many things as many others do for their own family, but there's a part of him that's not sure. He wonders if his parents really have the capacity to care about the real him, or if it's just as fake as the rest of the world's happiness. Are they just as fake as he was before those strange Zoni set him free?

"It was alright." Alex closes the door behind him. "Got to fix a lot of stuff today, as usual. Stayed busy."

Kaden rises from his chair, patting Alex on the back with a chuckle. "Good to hear, sport. Stay busy, and serve the empire. That's the way to be."

"Did I just hear my nephew was busy? Now, that's new!" Chuckled a familiar elder voice and the only normal Lombaxian that Ratchet knew.

"Uncle Alister!" He said happily and excitedly, this time much more real than fake.

"Great to see ya, you old fart!" Kaden laughed, smacking Alister on his back much to the elder's dismay as he rubbed the spot where Kaden had smacked him with a grunt.

"Great to see you too, Kaden." Alister said as he rubbed his back a little before stopping once he was satisfied.

"It always is!" Kaden laughed with a wide smile before he sat down at the table, humming the Empire's Galactic Anthem.

"How're you doing, Alex? I hear you've finally started doing work!" Alister laughed at the last bit, poking fun at his young nephew.

"I'm doing great, Uncle!" Alex said with a faked wide smile, though he was slightly happy and laughing in his head at his uncle's joke.

"That's great, kit! So are you...happy with how everything is?" Alister asked, looking at the Lombax was with a curious look and curled lips.

"Of course I am, uncle! Why wouldn't I be?" Alex said, faking a laugh.

"Yeah, why wouldn't you…." Alister said, his voice dipping a little in sorrow.

* * *

_A feline-like creature stood, staring at another feline creature similar to him whom was walking away from him. The creature was much taller and muscular in build compared to the other whom was much smaller and had a height of five feet compared to the six feet that the former had in height. The tall creature known as a Lombax had light gray fur with red-brown stripes and black eyebrows, his eyes were yellow with dark brown irises. He wore Praetorian Guard armor with plates on the shoulders and chest, the chest plate in particular had a symbol._

"_Where...are you going?" The large Lombax asked, looking off at the smaller Lombaxian who was walking off with a little robot._

"_You can't just walk away! THE LOMBAXES NEED US!" The elder yelled toward the younger._

_The younger yellow Lombax with green eyes, yellow fur, and brown stripes whom wore a peculiar set of armor attempted to ignore the elder as he walked off, his head hanging slightly in shame._

"_DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!" He yelled, stomping his strange wrench-like staff down as electricity bubbled around the_

"_I SAID STOP!" He suddenly yelled as he shot out two bolts of electricity at both the robot and the Lombax._

_The Lombax gasped, holding onto his chest as he slumped. Falling off the platform whilst the robot was completely obliterated or at least it seemed to be…._

"_Very well done, Mr. Azimuth! Dr. Nefarious will be most pleased to hear that you have succeeded!" Said a voice behind him._

_Upon turning to face the voice, "Mr. Azimuth" saw a fairly round, well dressed, humanoid robot. He has no hair and bright blue eyes, wearing a suit and bow tie._

"_And you both can guarantee that Ratchet will be alive, that Kaden and the Lombaxes will be back?" He asked once more with a serious look._

"_But of course, General! It is our utmost duty to ensure your winning, this is what you wanted after all." The robotic butler said as he waddled away._

_All the while, Alister thought, 'Is this what I wanted...?"_

* * *

"Uncle? Are you ok?"

Alister was brought back to reality by Alex's concerned yet faked cheery voice as he said with a sigh, "Yeah, I am. Come on, let's grab a seat for dinner, Alex."

Alister sat down as Alex looked to him, slightly concerned as to why his uncle was acting this way. As the three sat, Alex thought and thought. It was still something he was getting used to doing as he had never thought until the Zoni freed him two years ago. Yet at the same time, each time he did it, he loved it. He felt so free without anyone knowing what he was truly doing or feeling, it felt amazing! As he thought, he unconsciously tapped his finger against the dining table, it was something he had gotten the habit of doing as of late when thinking in public. Though he kept a rhythm to it and hummed all the while so that they thought he was actually just humming a song or something.

'_Ok, time to go over everything in my head. So, I got the flight navigational system, radio because why not, landing gear, wheel, gas pedal and break, and gear shift lever. All that's left is the A.I module and a Omni-wrench 1200 to defend myself Incase I come across any pirates, especially Captain Darkwater…'_ Alex thought to himself, shivering internally as he thought of the pirate.

Alex had heard many stories from his uncle about the pirate due to having worked with him once or twice, the dreaded pirate was a good ally. However he had warned against ever wanting to leave Fastoon to see other planets or worlds due to Darkwater having Nefarious's authority to destroy, seize, or capture any ship and it's occupants that leave any planet unless Nefarious himself tells Darkwater of them.

Luckily though, Alex had planned for an attack from Darkwater unlike other Lombaxes and citizens who attempted to poor everything into boosters and the engine. While not a bad idea on their part, they always neglected to add weaponry such as turrets, laser cutters, and missiles which would have defended them from Darkwater's many cannons and turrets operated by many of his pirates.

'_Everything's going just as planned! By next week, I'll be far away from Fastoon and out exploring the universe!' _Alex thought giddily, smiling brightly inside and out.

He couldn't help but just smile, in just one week, he'd be off Fastoon and exploring the universe as well as hopefully getting away from the empire which was added plus. That is if everything went according to plan…..Alex had thought and checked every possible variable that could go wrong from running into Darkwater to running into Emperor Nefarious himself. But things can go wrong, he learned that the hard way a few days after being set free by the Zoni

Not even a few days after having been freed, his inner Lombax began to awaken. The true, real Lombax him. New instincts, desires, and curiosity flowed over his body like a waterfall. One of those instincts being a want to tinker and build inventions, that instinct quickly led from taking apart scrapped robots to see how they worked to creating his now infamous incident that he dubbed the electro-shock underwear incident. The underpants were meant to keep him warm in freezing conditions and to stimulate his nerves, instead they led to him getting electrocuted by his own underwear. The poor Lombax was sore for weeks.

Alex shivered at the memory, internally, it was definitely not his best moment. Neither was his thinkering with his automatic holo assistant which then lead to a very embarrassing talk with his father which was joyful for his father but not to Alex internally.

"Dinner's ready!" A female Lombax said as she walked in with a steaming pot of Borgon Cow stew.

Alex's left ear flicked upon hearing her voice, he quickly took himself from his thoughts and went back into reality as he looked to the woman.

"Borgon Soup, amazing work honey!" Kaden said happily with a big smile.

"I agree with Kaden there, Emma. Definitely your best work yet!" Alister said with a laugh as he ate.

"Glad you think so Alister, that really makes my day!" She said, smiling brightly.

"And someone's day is about to become amazing!" Kaden said with a wide smile as he pulled out an envelope that was wrapped up in a cap of sorts which Alister watched with eager eyes and a smile.

"Who's day is that, Kaden?" Alister asked, seemingly playing dumb with a wide smile on his face that Alex hadn't seen in a long time.

"I dunno, Alister! But I'll give you a hint! He's got yellow fur with brown stripes and looks just like me!" Kaden said, smiling brightly as he looked to a now struggling to smile Alex.

"Hmm…..brown stripes, yellow fur, and looks just like you….." Alister hummed, faking thinking.

"Is it...Angela?" He asked, snickering to himself.

'_Here we go again….' _Alex thought with an internal groan of annoyance.

They always did this on a celebration…..Nefamis, Nefaween, Nefa Fools Day, Emperor's Day, Nefarious Dependence Day, St. Lawerence's Day, Timothy J. Nefarious Day, Nefarious Day, and Nefarious Appreciation Day. Come to think of it, why had he never noticed so many holidays were named after their "just ruler"...

"Nope! Try again, Alister!" Kaden said, giggling away like a giddy kit.

Alex was brought out of his thoughts and into the present once more upon hearing his father's giddy voice.

"Is it...Aragon Jenson?" Alister asked, his smile turning into a smirk.

"No, you silly old fart! Aragon has brown fur and darker brown stripes!" Kaden laughed much to Alister's own amusement and Alex's torture.

'_Come on, just guess it's me already!' _Alex groaned in his head.

He already knew the answer, Alex knew it. It was always the same answer whenever they did this. The first few times when he had been freed, it was pretty funny but now? Now, it was just plain annoying.

"Hmmm…..well, I give in. Who is it, Kaden?" Alister asked, faking a sigh with his smirk still ever present.

"It's Alex!" Kaden said happily with a wide smile.

Alex sighed internally, of course it was him ...if they ever played this sort of game then it was most definitely going to be him. It was always like this, the minute they start, he knew it would be him…

"Yay!" Alex said, faking excitement for yet another gift from his father.

"Here you go son! Enjoy your gift, it'll be real fun for the year." Kaden said, handing Alex his cap covered gift.

Alex took the gift from his father with his still faked smile as he began to slowly unravel his brown capped gift, he then set aside the pilot's cap as he took the envelope. As it lies in his hands, his family beams up at him, and Kaden excitedly nods his head. "Go on, son. Open it!" Alex rips open the top of the envelope to reveal a carefully folded paper. Throwing the now empty envelope aside, he unfolds the document. As he reads the inscription, it takes all Alex has not to allow his horror to show.

_Greetings, Alexander Lomas!_

_You are receiving this letter to confirm your acceptance into the Praetorian Guard Training Academy! In the coming weeks, your recruiting officer will be sent for you and bring you to our facilities. There, you will meet fellow cadets, gain valuable life skills, train in heavy weaponry, and travel the universe in order to better serve the Empire! Thank you for volunteering, and Praise Nefarious!_

_Sincerely, the Praetorian Guard Recruitment Office_

Alex scans over the words three times over, and all the while, his parents are practically giggling with excitement and pride.

"Isn't it great, Alex?", Kaden squeals. "Your mother and I put in your application a few weeks ago, and they accepted you!"

"I finally get to have my nephew working for me, what do you think of that, kit?" Alister asked with a wide smile, very happy at the prospect of Alex working under his command.

There's so much to think, so much that he wishes he could scream out. '_They seriously sent in an application for me? They never even told me! Never asked me if that's what I wanted! That's insane! It's a breach of privacy! I refuse to be a puppet for Nefarious, and that's what they're forcing me to be. But I can't risk them knowing that I know better. I can't let that recruiter get to me before I have a chance to split. I'm so close to freedom, I can't lose it now.'_

With a deep breath, Alex gathers his thoughts to form the best response, the safest response.

"It's..certainly something!" A faked grin of pride for an accomplishment his parents made for him.

"That's my boy!" Kaden said happily with a smile as only one plot ran through Alex's head.

It was his last hope of getting away before he could be sent away, it was risky, stupid...but it was also his only chance. He needed to steal an AI and get his work wrench from his work place which meant breaking in but he had to be careful, one wrong move and Nefarious will catch him. He's too close to getting away from this galaxy, he needs to get the materials and get out of there before Nefarious can get to him, fast!

An artificial yawn escapes Alex's lips, and he makes a show of stretching for the others. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pooped. It's a big day tomorrow after all, and I need to be ready for that army guy. Never know when he's gonna show up."

'_It'd be safe to assume the next morning. They're always on top of that stuff, and I don't want to expect them later. Means I don't have a lot of time.' _Alex mentally plans out the distance between Grummelnet and the ship, the time he has to work.

Emma skips over to Alex, giving her son a tight hug before sending him off to bed. "That's absolutely right, Alex. You get some rest now, and we'll wake you up with breakfast early in the morning. We're so proud of you!"

Kaden and Alister come in then, giving Alex a small group hug before closing the door after Kaden had switched off the lights to a laying Alex. Upon hearing the door shut, Alex moved quickly. Getting out of bed, Alex worked quickly. He didn't have much time after all. Getting dressed, he quickly put on his harness, grabbing his projecto-gloves and putting them on, a satchel filled with items that would keep him from getting home sick, and his keycard. Finally he went to the bed, picking up his flight cap and putting it on.

As he moves to his window, his bedroom mirror catches his eye. He stops in front of it for a moment, taking in the sight of his current getup. There's this gut feeling he can't describe, like it just feels...right to be wearing this. He smiles confidently, genuinely, for the first time in years.

'_This is the Alex the Zoni set free, this is who I'm meant to be.' _He thinks to himself, his green eyes sparkling.

His eyes were once a more dull shade of green, but now they sparkle brighter than a Broaxian Star. He nodded to himself within the mirror, it was time. Swiftly, Alex quietly opened the window. Slipping out whilst keeping his satchel secured as he made his way off the roof and toward GrummelNet Industries. Soon enough, Alex arrived at GrummelNet. Making his way to the back entrance and using his keycard, he carefully made his way inside. Not noticing a camera nearby which observed his movements.

The screensaver of Nefarious's master computer watched the sneaking lombax carefully as an alarm light blinked, the robot however did not notice due to being asleep in his chair. The evil robot was lounged back with a cap on his head, eye covers to help him sleep as he snored away.

"How do you like being used for an eraser Qwark, who's the nerd now?! Hehehehe...yes….Qwark….bow before your master…." He cackled in his sleep as he snored too deep in his sleep to hear the tiny alarm.

On the saver, it showed Alex moving carefully in the halls, maneuvering through many of the security systems and obstacles. He passed many of the obstacles using many gadgets he had made or that Angela had given him. Moving into the lab, he quickly grabbed his work wrench, an Omni-Wrench. These wrenches were once used and carried around by Lombaxes of the past until Nefarious came in as Alex had learned from charts he'd found in the Engineering Archives. He attaches it to the holo-attachment on his harness, making it stick to his back as he then quickly made his way to the Engineering vaults. Upon arriving, he pulled out his hacker which he had bought from a Smuggler not too long before.

After hacking through the system, the door beeps twice before pulling into the wall to the left as he makes his way past. As he walked through the vault, he passed by many old inventions and machines. Some animals such as a mysterious otsel called Daxter and others like a strange creature called a hooman. Some inventions looked bizarre to him, such as an _Omega Cannon_ & something called a _Dimensionator_. Eventually, however, he made it to his prize, forgetting about all other inventions for the one he stared at was the most important one of all ...Project Aphelion. It was his best chance from what he had studied up on not a few days ago.

Project Aphelion was a project for a failed AI Navigational System called Aphelion. Only the highest minds could work on it, making it possibly the last project besides the Dimensionator that Lombax Researchers ever worked on. It was the ultimate AI Module, though it may have "failed". In reality, it had actually worked. However, that wasn't why it was stopped. The reason was that it could think for itself and cared more for others' lives then the lives of the soldiers, something Nefarious didn't like at all which soon led to it being shelved and marked as failed.

Swiftly, Alex put his hacker into his satchel before pulling out a modified blaster which he dubbed _The Combuster_. He knew as soon as he took the module, it would set off the alarm, alerting all security robots and possibly Nefarious himself. He wanted to hide for so long, to get away in secret but now ...hiding was not optional. He could no longer hide away who he was from everyone….he needed to run away.

Meanwhile with Nefarious, he snored still. Still sleeping soundly until suddenly, a load alarm rang out from his console, startling him from his sleep. He fell backwards with his chair, onto the ground with a loud thump.

"What? What's going on, what is that awful racket?! LAWRENCE!" Nefarious yelled from the ground, ripping off his eye covering as Lawrence teleported in.

"Yes sir?" The plump butler asked with a sigh.

"WHAT IS THAT ALARM?!" Nefarious yelled to the robot as he jumped up, wagging his finger to Lawrence with an angered glare.

"Sir, must you never look at the screen…?" ,Lawrence asked with a sigh as he went to the computer before spotting immediately what was wrong, "It appears that Project Aphelion has been stolen, sir.

Nefarious shoved Lawrence out of the way as he exclaimed with rage, "WHAT?! WHO, LAWRENCE?!"

"It's obviously Mr. Lomas, sir. Honestly, I really don-" Lawrence said before being quickly interrupted by Nefarious whom yelled, "ANNIHILATE HIM!"

"Of course sir, activating Securitybots." Lawrence said as he flicked a small switch, activating them.

All the while, on screen, Alex ran through the lengthy halls with his Combuster at ready for the security robots. Then came the sound he'd been waiting for, the alarm.

"_INTRUDER ALERT! NOW ACTIVATING SECURITY DRONES, HAVE A BAD DAY." _The system said from the speakers above.

The robots then began to slowly fill the room as each of them all said, "_ANNIHILATE. ANNIHILATE."_

Alex ran and ran as fast as he could, shooting down the bots as he ran for the slowly closing the doors which led outside. Breathing in deeply, he began to bolt and sprint for those doors. Breathing in and out heavily as he gave it his all.

"Come on….come on….!" He said under his breath as he ran, the door almost done closing.

Then with a leap of faith, much like the cat he was, Alex pounced toward the door. Flying in the air as blaster shots flew past him in all directions. Then with a skid and a bit of luck, he made it, skidding underneath the door just before it closed. The screensaver which had shown the display was quickly smashed by Nefarious who screamed with pure rage.

"NO! ARGHHHH! HE WILL RUIN EVERYTHING IF THAT PIECE OF SCRAP REUNITES WITH HIM! LAWRENCE!" Nefarious yelled in pure rage for his robotic butler.

"Sir, I am still here, you couldn't possibly have forgotten tha-" The butler said before being interrupted once more by the enraged doctor, "QUIET LAWRENCE! I WANT YOU TO GET THE PRAETORIAN GUARD NOW! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS HE TO ESCAPE THE PLANET!"

"Of course, sir, I shall send one of our spy bots to follow him whilst I phone the general to get his platoon at the ready to stop Mr. Lomas." Lawerence said as he waddled away to call Alister.

It was three o'clock in the morning when Alister's holophone rang. The white furred Lombax groaned, getting up from within the confines of the guest bedroom at Kaden's home. He blinked a little, getting sleep out of his eyes as he turned on the lamp and picked up the phone with a yawn.

"Yes...what is it…?" He asked with yet another yawn.

There was a bit of fast talking from the phone as Alister yawned again, "Can you say that again, it's a bit early to talk that fast…"

"_**I said it's about your nephew, Alex, you silly billy!" **_The corpal said from the phone.

Alister's right eyebrow rose in confusion upon hearing his nephew's name, "My nephew, what about him?"

Alister was now fully awake and what he heard next made him pale, "_**Your nephew stole Project Aphelion and now we have to capture or kill him!"**_

The phone slipped from his hand as he sat there, paled with a horrified look...his nephew was free and more importantly...he was him again.

Alex rushed through the streets as fast as he could to the Jorbean Raritanium Mines as fast as he could, he had to get to that ship and fast! His cover was blown and he knew that soon, the Praetorian Guard would be on him. They always were for most who were about to take off the planet. Alex didn't care who he went past, what mattered was getting to the ship!

"FREEZE, YOU SILLY BILLY YOU!"

Alex stopped dead in his tracks, he was in front of a blockade. One which Alister was on his way to lead right this moment, Alex needed to find a way through and fast! The moment that Alister got here, it would be all over. He knew it, he's witnessed it. He tried to find another way through without using violence but could find no way which left only one option, he had to fight his way through. Moving quickly, Alex ran straight ahead, summoning his combuster by using his right Projecto-glove.

"Let's fire and show him our love! Weehehehe!" Giggled the corpal as he began firing along with the squad.

Alex all the while, incompacitated many as he ran forward, dodging blasts.

"Take that, you Lombax bastard you! Your furdo sucks!" One soldier yelled, causing all of them to gasp.

"Jeff!" Greg said, shocked strangely.

"What?" The Lombaxian soldier asked, confused.

"Too far man ...too far…" Greg said with disappointment.

"Aww…sorry…" Jeff said before going back to shooting with a scree.

Alex then launched himself past the two once arguing soldiers and into the raritanium mine, he then turned over a little and shot the door button, shutting the steel doors behind him as he skidded to a stop.

Jumping up quickly, Alex ran quickly behind a cluster of rocks and into a large abandoned part of the mine. His ship floated slightly off the ground as he quickly leaped in with a bit of showing off, then with his Lombax skills, he got to work. Whipping out the small chip known as Project Aphelion, he opened up the front console and began to get to work quickly as the soldiers pounded on the steel doors.

His ears then flicked as he heard the first signs of life from his ship, "_Now booting up systems. Shields 90%. Defenses 78%. Weapons 100%. Boosters 100%. Now activating inner systems check…_"

Alex smirked, his ship was finally ready. He then jumped, nearly dropping the console's covering he had in his gloved hands as a loud bang resounded throughout the mine.

"ALEXANDER! OPEN UP! THIS IS GENERAL ALISTER OF THE PRAETORIAN GUARD! IF YOU COME PEACEFULLY, YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED!" His uncle's voice yelled from behind the steel door as Alex worked quickly, putting the covering back.

"_It's about time, you fools reinstalled me and came to your sens- say you aren't any of the inventors and my scans reveal you to be...different._" The project said in curiosity as another bang resounded, this time louder and sounding like an explosive.

"Yeah, yeah, long story. Look I need your help, we need to get off of Fastoon and fast!" Alex said in desperation.

"_Why should I help you? By all accounts I should be leaving you on Fastoon with the rest of your damnable race._" The project said, perplexed.

Another bang was heard throughout the mines, they were close to breaking through!

"Because, I'm not like the others! I can think, I can feel, and most importantly, I can care!" He said, getting out his blaster once more.

"Y_our logic seems sound...and my scanners do detect no ill intent or lying, very well, Lombax. Where is it you wish to go?_" The project asked as it's dashboard began to light up and the cockpit closed.

"Anywhere that's safe and far away from Polaris!" Alex said desperately as the steel door finally gave way, flying off as Praetorian Guards stormed in.

"_Very well, setting course for Planet Veldin within the Solana Galaxy._" The ship said as it lifted higher, aiming towards an opening above.

The Praetorian Guards stormed into the room just as the ship's thrusters begin to power up.

"NO, STOP! ALEX!" Alister yelled, running in and charging up his Omni-wrench.

He fired, only to miss as the ship shot upwards, into the night sky.

Alister's face twisted from rage to regret and then to despair as he yelled one single word, "RATCHET!"


End file.
